Fast but dim, You can still carry matches...... but keep them in a match safe coz they're useless if you ever get them wet. The firesteel will work no matter how wet you've got it, again and again.
You don't need to carry your tinder with you if you don't want to. As long as you carry a knife you can always find a way to get a fire going with the two items and a little thought. Even on the wettest of days you can find a piece of standing dead wood that you can split open to reveal dry wood. A little scraping with a sharp knife will soon produce enough fine tinder to get a fire lit with the firesteel. (Use the knife edge at right angles to the wood and scrape, then use the rest of the wood to make "fuzzy sticks")
I often find that it's nice to gather a little tinder as I walk if I plan on fire making later in the day. This keeps your eyes on the alert looking for suitable materials and helps you spot no-end of other things that you might have otherwise missed.The possibilities are just about endless with the firesteel, and like I said, it will work no matter what you've done to it in the way of soaking, dropping in the mud, and other general mishaps that will render matches useless.
Experiment (in other words, play with the thing) and you'll find that it's not only as useful as matches but it's far more fun too.